The Russian loan will be issued in two stages and at least the first tranche will be used to refinance the previous debts of Belarus to the Russian Federation.
During a meeting with representatives of the local nomenklatura, Alyaksandr Lukashenka said that the $ 1.5 billion loan that Vladimir Putin promised to provide to Belarus in Sochi would go to refinance the country’s previous debts to the Russian Federation.
“I must tell you that it was my demand. Both the prime minister and the minister of finance offered me to repay this loan. This year we had to repay a billion on our old debt. Despite all the difficulties, we were ready to pay back this billion. This is not a new loan. This was my request to the Russian leadership that we are not paying you this billion this year, we are keeping it and postponing it to the next year. The rate there is acceptable. That is, it is a question of refinancing,” BelTA quotes Lukashenka.
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said recently that Russia will provide Belarus with a loan in two stages — $ 1 billion in 2020 and $ 500 million in 2021.
